Shirin Ebadi: For Islam and Humanity

For Islam and Humanity

Some of her admirers in Iran call her a woman of steel. Sure, the Iranian human rights champion also has a heart of gold. But it is Shirin Ebadi's unbending will that explains how she has become the conscience of the Islamic Republic.

Years before reformers like President Mohammed Khatami started talking about political freedom, Ebadi, 56, was demanding fundamental rights from an Islamic regime that systematically violated them. Her Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 gave Ebadi even greater moral authority inside Iran, injecting fresh hope into a pro-democracy movement that has suffered escalating repression at the hands of the...